Do You Feel Guilty?

One of the best reasons to get up on Sunday morning and go to church is to hear Bishop Sutton.  I always seem to learn something new and am inspired, often, to research what he says.

This week, I learned the government has kept a Conscience Fund since the early 1800's.  Sure, sending money to the government isn't on par with Biblical forgiveness, but sending ill-gotten, stolen, or unremitted money to the government MIGHT help you sleep better at night.

The first letter sent to this fund demonstrated the fact that we often know what we ought to do, but we don't always know what to do.  Maybe, for some, sending money in arrears will do the trick.  For some, though, money can't solve the problem.  Their conscience has been pricked because of something they've done or said that was inappropriate.  And, if you don't already know this, money doesn't and can't fix everything.

I would suggest, to those who have decided their conscience isn't clear, that forgiveness, through the power of Jesus Christ, is the actual solution.  After all, we are convicted of our sin through the Holy Spirit and feel the need to absolve ourselves because he gifted us with a conscience in the first place.   Clearly, he wanted us to know right from wrong, to have a moral compass if you will, and he wanted us to have an "out" when we went astray.  That "out" is forgiveness.

A clear conscience is, therefore, found in a person who is forgiven.  However, only when that forgiveness is accepted will that person be truly free.  There is nothing more pathetic than a person who can't accept the forgiveness offered by another person or by God.  Forgiveness is meant to be embraced and to have the daylights squeezed out of it until is permeates the soul of the forgiven!

So, what is troubling you today?  What past hurts do you need to rectify?  What has gone unresolved far too long in your life?

If you have an answer, you have a conscience.  And if you have a conscience, you have a Savior who is willing to forgive you, no questions asked.

Do yourself a favor and do the dirty work to move forward.  I can't guarantee you won't suffer through the process, but I can guarantee that accepting that forgiveness will lighten your load.  In the end, you will walk taller and feel better than before.

If what you've been doing hasn't been working, I would propose trying forgiveness just might be the answer.